JetBlue flight diverted after pilot meltdown
- 12 years ago
Shouting. People crowding the aisle. A scene of commotion in this amateur video captured on board a JetBlue plane in mid-flight.
Bound for Las Vegas with 135 passengers on board, Flight 191 was diverted to Texas on Tuesday after what The Federal Aviation Administration describe as an "onboard medical emergency."
Passengers say a man in a JetBlue uniform, apparently locked out of the cockpit, started banging on the door, demanding to be let inside.
That's when passengers - including Anthony Antolino - say they decided to intervene.
(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ANTHNY ANTOLINO, PASSENGER, SAYING:
"Once someone starts saying 'Say your prayers' and he's a captain or a pilot, I think it's time to take action. A group of us just jumped up instinctually, grabbed him and pulled him to the ground and held him down."
The FAA said preliminary information shows the co-pilot became concerned that the captain had quote... "exhibited erratic behavior during the flight."
Air traffic control recorded this transmission from the plane.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUDIO OF PILOT ON JETBLUE 191, SAYING:
"JetBlue 191, emergency, and we are going to need authorities and medical to meet us at the airplane."
The captain was removed from the aircraft upon landing in Amarillo and taken away in an ambulance.
The FBI is investigating the incident.
Katharine Jackson, Reuters.
Bound for Las Vegas with 135 passengers on board, Flight 191 was diverted to Texas on Tuesday after what The Federal Aviation Administration describe as an "onboard medical emergency."
Passengers say a man in a JetBlue uniform, apparently locked out of the cockpit, started banging on the door, demanding to be let inside.
That's when passengers - including Anthony Antolino - say they decided to intervene.
(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ANTHNY ANTOLINO, PASSENGER, SAYING:
"Once someone starts saying 'Say your prayers' and he's a captain or a pilot, I think it's time to take action. A group of us just jumped up instinctually, grabbed him and pulled him to the ground and held him down."
The FAA said preliminary information shows the co-pilot became concerned that the captain had quote... "exhibited erratic behavior during the flight."
Air traffic control recorded this transmission from the plane.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUDIO OF PILOT ON JETBLUE 191, SAYING:
"JetBlue 191, emergency, and we are going to need authorities and medical to meet us at the airplane."
The captain was removed from the aircraft upon landing in Amarillo and taken away in an ambulance.
The FBI is investigating the incident.
Katharine Jackson, Reuters.